Jeweled Cage
by Jaylee-Arlee
Summary: She was trapped in the gilded cage of her family, he had been trapped in the dark prison of his family’s past. She longed for freedom, he already had it. She fled from her family, but escape is not an option, only a delay of the inevitable. RenxOC
1. Pillow Wars!

Disclaimer: We do not own Shaman King (dying a little inside) just our OC's. And the story line.

Title: Jeweled Cage

Summary: She was trapped in the gilded cage of her family; he had been trapped in the dark prison of his family's past. She longed for freedom; he already had it. She fled from her family, but escape is not an option, only a delay of the inevitable. Will he be able to do for her what his friends did for him? Ren/OC (Not pure romance)

Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance, Comedy

Rating: T for now. Will change if anything arises. Probably won't.

A/N: Aloha. Well this is the first chapter of our new fic (our first one sucked. Hopefully this one doesn't). It will end up crossing over with the sequel of an already in progress story by one of the joint writers, Ammirra. The story is her only story at the moment and is called Elementalists. Yes there are two of us writing this. I'm Hikyrrou. Ya this doesn't seem tooooo much like shaman king…at the moment but just wait. It gets better. Oh ya, this takes place approximately a year after the beginning of the first tournament. In the anime anyway. WELL!! Enjoy!

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**Chapter One: Pillow Wars!**

"But Papa! I want to join the tournament!" a young girl complained futilely, looking at her feet.

"NO! You will not waste your time with such an unsuitable activity! You will remain here and act as a princess must!" a large man snapped back at her. He was wearing gold armor, scale mail, a red velvet cape with snow leopard fur lining and a gold crown with embedded rubies.

"Papa! Other girls are in the tournament!" She continued to push her luck in a hopeless attempt to get her way.

"Other girls are not princesses of their country! You have a duty here Arleanna, end of discussion!" He pointed down the rich hall. "Go to your room, stay there until you've pulled your head out of the clouds." With that he turned, his cape billowing behind him, and left his daughter gawking.

"Hah!" A seventeen year old girl came up behind the first. She was heavily jeweled and wore an overly ornate dress. "Why would you even want to enter in that tournament anyway?" she said as Arleanna whirled around to meet identical orchid eyes. "You'd get all sweaty and sticky! Disgusting!" Then the second girl stalked passed her, silver violet hair flowing.

"What do you know Lamia!" she called after her sister. "Argh! I can't take much more of this!" She turned on her heal and marched to her room, curly silvery pale violet hair bouncing. She closed the door irritably behind her and stood before a full length mirror. Looking herself up and down she scowled, "I hate this," she cried. Scornfully she took off her gold and silver circlets placing them carefully on an ornate desk beside the mirror. No sooner had she placed the last of the circlets on the desk then there was a knock on the door. She turned, her hands still on the circlet, and stared at the door. Then slowly she walked to it and opened the door to see her violet haired mother.

"Arleanna, what is this I hear about you wanting to enter that confounded tournament?!" Her mother's usually kind voice was harsh and reproachful. "Madness child! Such an event is no place for you!"

"Mama! I wish not to talk about it now. Can't you let me alone awhile?" Arleanna said, looking at her feet again. Her mother looked at her a moment then turned and left. Silently Arleanna closed the door then collapsed on her enormous bed and started to cry.

Arleanna's spirit materialized to the left of the weeping girl, placing a hand on her shoulder for comfort. "Do you really need your father's permission to participate in the tournament?"

Arleanna looked up with tear filled eyes, "Papa is the king, how can I just go without his permission Shan?

The spirit frowned, "He is the King, but he should be your father first."

Arleanna blinked, "what?"

"He would be your father whether he was King or not Arleanna. He should let you be who you are, his daughter, not the younger princess."

Arleanna stared at her spirit, then smiled sadly and wiped her eyes. "That's true Shan." She shook her head, "But Papa has forgotten how to be a parent."

The spirit opened her silver wings slightly, annoyed. "You shouldn't speak about your father that way." Her eyes narrowed. "It may be true but he is your father."

Arleanna rolled her eyes. "You've said that already. I have he queen of repetition, Shanayru Hakyri, for my main spirit! What's the world coming to?"

Shanayru made to tackle Arleanna but the girl rolled off the bed and stuck her tongue out at her spirit. "Arleanna, get back here!" Shanayru gave chase, and the two ran around the room, Arleanna giggling. Finally Shanayru jumped over the others head then tackled her in triumph.

Arleanna and her spirit went down in a mass of flailing limbs, hitting the floor with a loud thunk. Arleanna emitted a squeal as they struck the ground. She shoved Shanayru off her gently saying "this means war!" the whole while a big smile was plastered on her face.

Shanayru faced her grinning. "Bring it on girl!" She raced for Arleanna's bed and in one motion grabbed a pillow and flung it into Arleanna's face. "Pillow fight!" The two girls commenced in an all-out pillow-war.

Someone came knocking at the young princess's door but they were too enthralled in their pillow fight to hear. The girl listened to the squeals and laughter coming from beyond the door and sighed. She continued knocking on the door even louder and began calling to her. "Princess? Princess, I know you're in there. I can hear you," she called. "If you're any louder everyone in the castle will hear you." As if on cue the giggling stopped and Arleanna opened the door.

"Mamaya," she greeted breathlessly. She stepped aside to let the servant girl in. When she was clear of the doorway, Arleanna quietly closed the door. "Sorry about that," Arleanna giggled. Mamaya looked around to see pillows and blankets strewn across the floor.

"Oh great," Mamaya sighed while pushing her brown bangs out of her face. "Now I have to clean all this up."

Arleanna looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry…"

Mamaya laughed at the princess. "Why are you sorry? You had a good time didn't you?"

Shanayru materialized behind Arleanna. "Greetings from the spirit world Mamaya Kortcha."

"Greetings from the servant world Shanayru Hakyri," she replied, finishing their little game. They both giggled at their own stupidity. Mamaya began to clean up after the pillow-war. "So," she addressed both combatants. "Who won?"

"You did," Shan and Arleanna replied together and began to giggle.

"How did I manage that?" she asked.

Shan grinned wolfishly. "You stole our ammo." The three girls laughed at the old spirits sense of humor. Shan and Arleanna began to help Mamaya clean up their mess.

"Stop that! Do you want me to lose my job?" Mamaya asked jokingly of Arleanna.

She smiled at her friend. "Of course not, I'm just helping." Mamaya giggled and tweaked the blankets back into place. Arleanna stopped and stood silently for a while with sad eyes. Mamaya turned to her with a questioning look. "I had another fight with my father…" Arleanna trailed off sadly.

Mamaya finished with the pillows then asked, "About the tournament?" Arleanna nodded sadly. Mamaya continued tidying up the room. After a moment of silence she spoke again. "Who cares what your father says. Well, he is king and all but you should be able to do what you want to do."

Shanayru nodded in agreement. "She's right you know."

"How in the world am I supposed to do that?" the princess asked.

The servant girl was silent for a moment. "I have an idea," she grinned. "But I will only tell you if you can beat me."

The girl and her spirit looked at each other, and then they both lunged for the pillows and threw them at their brunette friend, and thus commenced pillow-war II.

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A/N: yeah, this chappie was sorta short, but its just the first chapter so. Well, please R&R! Tootles folks! 


	2. Disguise

Chapter 2

A/N: booooo! Hi, Arlee here. This be the second chappie! Enjoy!

Chapter 2

_Disguise_

The man looked around at those gathered; or rather saw them with his…ears, because he was blind. Wood, which was himself, Time, the brown haired girl, Sound and Light, the blue haired girl… youngest of the bunch, Earth, the black haired woman, and the short tempered Metal, the other male. He sighed, they were short, and could not begin until all nine elements were present. "Now the only ones missing are the two…Love birds." He choked on the last words.

The younger male looked up at him, then around at the others. Irritably he brushed his platinum blonde hair out of his eyes. "What are they doing anyway?" His gaze fell on time, and soon everyone else was looking at her too.

She cocked an eyebrow but otherwise her expression was unchanged. "Do you _really_ want to know?"

All of them nodded and collectively said "Yes." All of them, that is, but the youngest. She shook her head vigorously and backed away. "I don't!"

Time laughed, shaking her head. "What? They're just on their way here." She looked over at the blue haired girl, "What did you think they were doing?

Everyone glared at the time shaman. The black haired woman stepped forward. "You lead us to believe they were doing something…_else_."

The sound/light shaman took another step back, covering her eyes with one hand. '_Am I the _only _decent one here?' _She shuddered at that thought. "You guys are _sick!_"

Just then a familiar shaman arrived…Hao, with a girl hanging on his arm. He stopped a few feet from the black haired woman, looking at the group with his onyx eyes. His brown hair was just as long as ever. He didn't bother to greet any of the assembled shamans or comment on what he had likely heard while approaching.

The girl however did speak. "Who's sick minded?" She was looking right at the blue haired girl. "What are you all talking about?" she asked, now looking at the rest.

The metal shaman looked away, whistling innocently. Or it would have been innocently if he wasn't so bad at it. All four females winced at the sound. The wood shaman pretended to be interested in a passing butterfly, which didn't make much sense since he was incapable of seeing it. He is blind after all.

Hao glared at them, eyes flashing dangerously. However…what could he do with a girl clinging to him like a…let's see…some sort of parasite. What was the word…ah yes! Clinging to him like a _leach_. He shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts, causing his hair to fall into his eyes. '_Damn hair',_ he thought, pushing it aside. '_Can't glare at people though this stuff.'_ He noticed the girl looking up at him, about to speak. He raised his free arm in a gesture to signal her into silence. Meekly she looked down, mouth shut. He then, finally, returned to his glaring. "You bitches were talking about us weren't you." It was more a statement then a question.

The black haired woman stepped closer to the…couple? She was smiling broadly. "Why of course we were!"

Hao's girl looked up again, face no longer meek. She had an air of almost overwhelming authority about her. She turned to the youngest of the group. "What were they saying about us?" she asked in a commanding tone.

The sound/light shaman met the other's gaze. "They wanted to know where you were," she started obediently, but her tone then shifted. "And they're all sick minded idiots. Figure it out for yourself," she finished, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Hao's girl blinked, apparently surprised at the others one of voice. "Wha?" she started, confused. Her head tilted to one side as she tried to figure it out. She frowned when she could not. "I don't understa- wait…EWWW!" Realization dawned on her face. "That's just wrong! I'm only…wait, how old is this body?"

Time rolled her eyes then sighed. '_Her brain has melted.'_ she thought before answering. "Fifteen."

She let go of Hao's arm and he rubbed the limb absently. The girl laughed a little nervously." Riiiiiight. Fifteen… EWWWW!" She grimaced. "That is soooo wrong! I'm only fifteen! Like I would do…that!" She continued as if she had never stopped.

Hao looked up from nursing his numb limb, nodding almost gravely. "Yeah… ignoring my…_needs._"He then sighed, running a gloved had through his long hair. "Well…we didn't come here to be…sick minded," he started. He then pointed to the girl who had recently relinquished his arm. "Or in her case…slow minded…freaks." The fire shaman smirked, amused. "So, shall we get down to business?"

The blue haired shaman looked offended and scowled at Hao. "I'm not sick minded," she mumbled angrily.

The other girl whirled back to him, eyes flashing angrily. "I am not slow minded!" she snapped. She then tilted her head to one side. "What business?"

Hao laughed at her, tilting her face up with a finger under her chin. His other hand traced her cheekbone before he leaned down and kissed her lightly. She looked at him dumbfounded and he grinned at this. "I rest my case."

The metal shaman made gagging motions behind their backs. "Get a room!" he hollered in Hao's ear.

The blue haired shaman threw her hands up in the air. "Can we _please_ start the meeting now?" she said in exasperation.

The time shaman turned to the now nearly insane girl. "That would be a very good idea," she nodded. Then she gestured to Hao and the metal shaman. "But…" she trailed off and counted down silently on her fingers.

Hao jumped at the metal shaman angrily, wishing to rip his face off. Instead he threw his arm back in preparation to punch him in the face…and hopefully break his nose. Yes, his nose and of couple teeth. That should help satisfy his desire to rip the other male's face from his skull.

"…I think we will have to wait until they are done," the brown haired girl finished, never once looking towards the fight.

Poking her cloaked head around the door frame, Mamaya checked her surroundings. When she was sure that the coast was clear, she exited to store she had been in. Over her servants garb she wore a long, earth-brown cloak so nobody would know who she actually was. If she was found in the market she would be thoroughly questioned as to her business there and even though she was loyal to the princess, she could not lie to a royal guard or anyone else from the palace.

In her arms, Mamaya carried a carefully wrapped bundle in a very protective manner. The contents of her bundle were hidden from the public eye. For all the other market-goers knew she could be carrying either a loaf of bread or a bundle of valuable jewels. Swiftly, she walked down the street to her next destination.

This went on for nearly an hour with her entering about five other stores before she had everything she needed. Or at least, she thought she did. She had to find a nice secluded place in the market and double check her supplies. After several minutes of secretive searching, she found an abandoned ally way and quickly slipped inside. When she reached to back of the ally she let her bundle down to recount its contents. After a quick check she realized she had missed one vital item.

Hastily she repacked the bundle, picked it up and left the ally. With luck, she would find the final item quickly and be able to return to the palace. After some hasty reading of shop signs, she found the store she was looking for. As she approached the entrance a pair of royal guards appeared from around the corner and made their way to the same shop. She stopped in her tracks and quickly backed away into the nearest store.

She entered the store with her head down, encased in shadows, and clutching her bundle tightly. Silently she pretended to be browsing the items for sale at the front of the store near the window. The entire time she was keeping a wary eye out for any sign of the two royal guards leaving. She could not be seen by them. Though she was only a servant she would almost defiantly be recognized. If that happened, the she would never be able to help Princess Arleanna.

"May I help you, miss?" Mamaya twitched badly at the sound of the unexpected voice behind her and almost yelped. She turned around to see the shop keeper behind her. "I'm sorry," he said kindly. "Did I startle you?"

Nervously Mamaya brushed her short brown bangs out of her eyes. "A little bit," she replied meekly. "And I'm fine. I'm just browsing sir." The shop keeper kept looking at her for a moment as Mamaya turned back to the window. Even though her face was hooded, this girl didn't seem to be older than fifteen. Most of his clients were older. He shrugged his shoulders and went to help other customers.

Not long after the shop keeper had walked away the two royal guards left the store and walked back in the direction they had come. They were talking to each other but since she was inside the store she couldn't hear what they were saying. Besides, she wasn't interested in their conversation.

Mamaya left her hiding place inside the store and went to the store she had originally intended to enter. She found what she was looking for almost immediately. She purchased her item, placed it with the rest of the items in the bundle and headed back for the palace. Now for the tricky part: getting to the princess without being caught.

Quietly, she slipped through the streets of the market to the palace walls. Veering away from any of the main entrances she headed for a servants entrance. It would look rather suspicious if a servant or a cloaked girl should enter the palace through a main entrance.

When she reached the servants entrance, she slipped into some nearby bushes. She placed her bundle on the ground and took off her cloak. Her long brown braided hair swept sideways as she removed her cloak. She folded it up and hid in the bushes. Nobody would find it here. This was one of the less frequently used entrances among the servants and nobody had any reason to sneak around through the bushes. Besides her that is.

She picked up her bundle and peered out of the bushes. The servants' entrances were usually unguarded. Most of the common folk didn't even know they were there. Making sure that nobody else was around she walked over the entrance and slowly opened it.

When she looked inside she didn't see any one else there so she slipped in. Holding the large bundle in one arm she closed the door as silently as she could. When the door latched shut she realized she had made a big mistake in choosing this entrance. It was the farthest entrance from the laundry where she had to go. She had planned on passing her bundle off as some laundry and then hide it in a basket and take it up to the princess. Well, she would just have to make it to the laundry without getting caught.

Taking a deep breath, she held the bundle like she would some dirty laundry and started on her way towards the laundry room. For the first while she didn't meet anyone else on her way.

About half way there another servant girl about her age emerged from an adjoining passage. Mamaya prayed the girl did not look her way, but with her luck she did.

The girl looked at her bundle curiously, it looked a little odd. She was carrying her own armful of laundry. "What's that?" she asked the brown haired girl, shifting her armful so she could brush black hair out of her face.

"It's… It's just dirty laundry," she responded, her blue eyes looking anywhere but directly at the girl. She tired to hide her nervousness, but thought she may have just gotten caught.

"Oh?" apparently the other servant failed to notice how nervous Mamaya was. "Well I'm heading that way already, I can take that for you," she said with a smile. Stepping closer to her, the black haired servant held out her free hand to take the bundle. "Save you the trip."

Mamaya looked at the hand, and resisted the urge to take a step back. She subconsciously held her bundle closer to her. "No… no… That's okay, really. I… I need to go that way anyway, and pick up… some clean sheets for the princess. She's… she's been complaining they aren't soft enough." She hoped her response did not sound as thrown together as she knew it was.

"Oh, in that case." The other servant girl smiled again. "We can't have the princess having rough sheets now can we?" Mamaya shook her head in silent agreement. She was afraid if she said anything else she might give herself away. "Since were both heading the same way, let's walk together!" The black haired girl seemed very excited by this prospect. Most servants didn't have anybody but other servants to converse with so they took every opportunity to talk with one and other they got.

Mamaya walked along in silence, throwing in the occasional agreement or nod when required. The other girl kept talking like there was no tomorrow. Mamaya had been worried that if they walked together that she would find out she was hiding something but the other girl just kept talking. She seemed oblivious to Mamaya's apparent nervousness. Mamaya prayed to the Great Spirit this girl didn't clue in soon.

Finally they reached the laundry room and the two of them stopped. The black haired servant turned to her with that constant smile plastered on her face. "Well I have to go to the laundry room over there. I guess you have to go that way huh?" She gestured with her head to another room than the one behind her. Since Mamaya was Princess Arleanna's personal servant, she had to take the laundry to a different area.

"Yes, that's right." The girl was nice enough but she was happy to be rid of her. She didn't want to get caught. "Mayhap I will see you around the palace again. Goodbye." Quickly Mamaya went into the laundry room.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Now that she had made it here, the rest was easy. She looked up and surveyed the room. There were only two other people in the room and they seemed preoccupied. With an air of belonging she went to an empty laundry basket. First she placed her still-wrapped bundle into the empty basket. Then grabbed some clean sheets and towels and placed them on top of the bundle.

Mamaya picked up the basket and now she was home free. Smiling to herself she made her way to the princesses' room where she would be waiting. She went unobstructed up to the princesses' room.

When she came to the door she knocked three times. Arleanna opened the door a crack to see who was there. "It's just me, Princess."

Happily Arleanna swung open her door. "Oh Mamaya!" she exclaimed. "I was so worried you were going to get caught." She gave her servant and her friend a quick hug then beckoned her inside.

When they were safely inside with the door locked, Mamaya set her bundle on the bed and opened it. Arleanna's guardian spirit, Shanayru Hakyri, appeared at Arleanna's shoulder. Her silver and blue hair fell over her shoulder as she looked at the contents of the bundle. "Do you really need all of this stuff?" she asked.

"If we want the disguise to last and be convincing, then yes." She picked up one of the items and turned to Arleanna. "Now, let's start with the hair." Arleanna gulped and let Mamaya start her work.

After several hours of work, Mamaya had finished her work. She looked upon Arleanna with admiration for her work. She now looked like a completely different person.

Arleanna's once silver and pale violet curly hair was now chestnut brown and straight. Mamaya had straightened, cut and dyed her hair. She now also wore contact lenses to make her orchid eyes appear green.

Arleanna looked at herself in a full length mirror. She hardly recognized herself. Not only was her appearance different but she now wore the simple garb of a peasant. She wore a loose one-strap pale green dress. Instead of her many gold and silver circlets she now wore just two circlets of bronze and gold.

"Wow…" She just kept staring at herself in wonder. Mamaya smiled to herself. She liked seeing the princess happy, and behind the shock, she was definitely happy. "We just have one last thing to do," Mamaya said.

Arleanna turned to her. "Hmm? I thought we were done."

"Not quite" Mamaya picked up four red ribbons. She tied the first two red ribbons around her bangs in a crisscross pattern. Using the third ribbon, she tied the rest of her hair. It wasn't in a ponytail. The ribbon was tied near the end of her hair. With the last ribbon, she took two strands of hair from just above the third tie and threaded the ribbon under them. She looked up at Arleanna. "Give me that ring of your mothers"

Arleanna looked kind of confused but did what Mamaya asked. Walking over to a desk, she picked up a tarnished gold ring that used to be her mothers. "What are you going to do with this?"

She took the ring silently and threaded the ribbon through it. Finally she tied off the fourth and final ribbon. Mamaya stood up and looked upon Arleanna with kind eyes. "This is so while you're gone you will still remember us."

"Oh Mamaya…" She gave her friend a big hug. She knew Mamaya didn't want to see her go but would always help her and be there for her. This is what Arleanna wanted so Mamaya would see to it that that is what she got.

Mamaya pulled away and cleared her throat. She didn't want to start getting too emotional in front of the princess. "Now, we have to think of a new name for you."

Shanayru, who had been sitting on the windowsill observing the whole thing agreed. "Yes, that is right." Her voice had an airy and melodic quality to it. The diamond tassels on her skirt jingled as she flapped to the other side of Arleanna. "What to name this new you?"

The three of them stood quietly for a moment and tried to think of a name for Arleanna. After a while, Shanayru said "She looks like a 'Lexin'. Yes, definitely Lexin."

Mamaya agreed with the female spirit. "Yes, Lexin sounds like a good name." After another short pause Mamaya finished her new name. "Lexin Tatari. That shall be your new name. What do you think of it?"

Arleanna, now Lexin Tatari, smiled happily. "I like it!"

Shanayru nodded her head. "I think we should change your age and birthday as well."

The two girls looked over at her. "You think so?" Mamaya asked.

Shanayru nodded again. "Yes, I believe it will be beneficial."

Lexin shrugged. She had learned long ago to listen to the winged spirits advice. "Alright then."

Mamaya looked to the ceiling as if for inspiration. "Well let's see. You're twelve now—"

"I'll be thirteen in a month," Lexin interrupted.

"Yes, of course. We should make you older so let's say you're fourteen."

Smiling, Shanayru added "And your birthday. Let's move it a month back."

All three girls smiled, satisfied with their work. Lexin had been born and now she could finally enter the tournament.

Lexin turned to Mamaya. "Thank you Mamaya, for all of your help."

"You're welcome, Lexin." They shared a quick embrace before Lexin and Shanayru headed towards the window.

"We should leave. It would be best if we go now." Mamaya nodded her head in silent agreement. "Goodbye, Mamaya."

Throwing open the window, Lexin jumped out with Shanayru flying close behind. Mamaya walked over to the window and watched her master and her friend leave. "Goodbye Arleanna. Good luck. And be safe."

End of Chapter Two

A/N: Jaylee: And it is over. Well, at least for this chapter. Thank you to 4gVn SoUl for being our beta. Look forward to the next chapter…whenever it may come…


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